by Michael R. Allen
My latest commentary for St. Louis Public Radio aired this morning; listen to or read it here.
by Michael R. Allen
Despite removing over half of the Old North St. Louis neighborhood from the NorthSide project boundary, McEagle Properties retains a strong presence in the neighborhood. In a future article, I will write about McEagle’s plans for the portion of the neighborhood that is included in the project. For now, here is a catalog of the 27 historic buildings owned by McEagle’s holding companies in that part of Old North for which the developer has no plans.
McEagle and elected officials repeat the line that “Old North is no longer a part of the project.” That’s not true. Over one-third of the neighborhood remains within the project boundary and the developer has yet to commit to a definite plan to either developing or selling properties that it owns in Old North. Maintenance is abysmal, and many buildings in need of structural repairs.
All of the twenty-seven buildings shown here are contributing resources to the Murphy-Blair Historic District, the National Register of Historic Places listing for most of Old North. All qualify for use of the historic rehabilitation tax credits at the state and federal level. Some are adjacent to rehabilitation projects ranging from owner-occupant work to the $35 million Crown Square redevelopment project.
The efforts of good people in Old North will rise the property values of McEagle’s holdings. However, long-term speculation is not fair to Old North. If old North is “out,” then McEagle needs to sell. The NorthSide redevelopment agreement must include binding language to compel McEagle to sell its holdings in Old North outside of the project boundary.
Publicly and privately, Paul J. McKee, Jr. complains about his reception in Old North (exemplified by the feisty meeting there last Monday). There is good reason for that reception, as the condition of these buildings and McEagle’s vague plans for the future show. Old North is hardly different from any neighborhood in resenting the presence and impact of a large-scale nuisance owner. I’m sure that WingHaven residents would be up in arms if a speculator started buying up residential foreclosures and left the houses vacant and untended for five years.
Last November, I offered free advice to McKee: “In preservation-minded Old North, there is a clear way to gain respect and built support: save buildings.” Not interested? Then it’s time to sell.
2900 N. 14th Street
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
3115 N. 14th Street
Owner: Blairmont Associates LC
3236 and 3238 N. 20th Street
Owner: Sheridan Place LC
3237 N. 20th Street
Owner: Sheridan Place LC
Had been largely rehabbed by owner who sold to McEagle.
1415 Benton Street
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
2701 Blair Avenue
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
Located at the intersection of Blair and Montgomery — Blairmont!
2710 Blair Avenue
Owner: VHS Partners LLC
Located adjacent to Crown square redevelopment. Photo shows a fence now removed and replaced by tenant parking for a rehabilitated building.
1500 Branch Street
Owner: Blairmont Associates LC
The entire two-part commercial row is included.
1449 Clinton Street
Owner: Noble Development Company LLC
Shown at right above.
1913 Dodier Street
Owner: MLK 3000 LLC
3211 Blair Street
Owner: Blairmont Associates LC
At left next door to owner-occupied home.
1420 and 1424 Hebert Street
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
Two cool small houses. The house at 1422 Hebert (left) is a flounder house.
1420 Hebert Street, Rear
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
Two-and-a-half story alley house next door to fully-rehabilitated alley house.
3240 and 3242 Knapp Street
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
3248 Knapp Street
Owner: N & G Ventures LC
3261 Knapp Street
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
Alley house. Adjacent neighbor demolished.
1445 Monroe Street
Owner: Noble Development Company LC
Permastone covers brick. Great vergeboard!
1119 Montgomery Street
Owner: Union Martin LC
Just the left side of the first building in the row of houses. Purchased by agent Harvey Noble at a tax sale in 2008 apparently “by mistake.”
1416 Montgomery Street
Owner: Noble Development Company LLC
Located between occupied business and the Crown Square redevelopment project, in which it could have been included.
1501 Palm Street
Owner: Blairmont Associates LC
More coverage here and here.
1523 Palm Street
Owner: Blairmont Associates LC
Just the left side of the left building is owned by McEagle. Building at right being fully rehabilitated.
1311 St. Louis Avenue
Owner: Blairmont Associates LC
Photograph taken before McEagle purchase; second floor now boarded most of the time. Directly across the street from the Crown Square redevelopment.
1437 Warren Street
Owner: Dodier Investors LLC
Building adjacent to a church.
1215 Wright Street
Owner: Blairmont Associates LC.
At right. Shown here before McEagle boarded the second floor windows.
by Michael R. Allen
Today’s Preservation Board agenda contains an interesting preliminary review: the Cultural Resources Office (CRO) has jurisdiction over a poorly-conceived streamline modern industrial building at 4110 Beck Avenue due to review jurisdiction of encroachments in the public right of way. The false pilasters proposed to be added are encroachments, and CRO recommends denial.
The other changes, some also out of character, don’t fall under the CRO’s review powers and cannot be considered. Read the item here.
UPDATE: This matter was not on the final agenda.
by Michael R. Allen
Sure, the house at 1925-27 Madison Street in St. Louis Place had its front wall rebuilt in a 1950s brick that clashes with its 19th century slate mansard. Yes, its immediate neighbors were gone when I took the above photograph in 2006. Still the old house was solid as one of its wall bricks and close to the dense cluster of redeveloped property around the Falstaff Brewery at 20th and Madison. To boot, the house was included as a contributing resource to the Clemens House-Columbia Brewery Historic District, so rehabbing this building could land someone — like its owner, McEagle Properties — historic tax credits.
The happy ending never came. On early Monday morning, September 21, a blaze consumed the building causing severe damage. Strangely, the city’s Building Division had recently boarded all of the building’s first floor doors and windows with the red composite boards now being used.
On the night of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission advisory vote on the first part of McEagle’s NorthSide TIF, I left the meeting early after not being able to get inside. I drove up to check out the damage, which had been reported on KTVI. I came across a man picking intact bricks out of the rubble. At the curb was a car without plates or a dealer’s sticker. I called 911.
by Michael R. Allen
While people are debating larger projects, the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group started a small but very important one: stabilization of several vacant historic buildings in the neighborhood formerly owned by the city’s Land Reutilization Authority (LRA). This comes after the group issued a request for proposals that led to two vacant houses finding owners who plan full rehabs.
Above is the house at 1300 Monroe Street, a very stunning corner house that has seen some rough days. The Restoration Group has already secured all of the openings with boards. The next steps are major masonry repairs and new roofing, on the flat roof as well as the projecting bay. When work concludes, what started as a hard-to-handle city-owned vacant building will be a rehab-ready, structurally-sound shell. The Restoration Group will place the home on the market.
No matter how long the buildings take to sell, they will stand safe and secure. Meanwhile, the Restoration Group will have demonstrated how a community development corporation can act to safeguard vacant historic buildings and get those buildings out of the LRA inventory and into a more sale-ready situation.
Support these remarkable efforts this Friday evening at a silent auction from 7 – 9:30 p.m. at 1331 North Market. The auction benefits the Restoration Group’s plans to fully rehab one of the vacant buildings. A mere $5 is the suggested cover, but of course you can be more generous! Details are here.
by Michael R. Allen
I have a column in today’s St. Louis American: “Holding McKee to his preservation promises”.
After last night’s TIF Commission vote to recommend approval of tax increment financing for the first two phases of the NorthSide, we’re moving on to legislation at the Board of Aldermen. Last night provided a show of the discontent that remains, as well as the uncertainty of financing a project as vast as NorthSide. I would say those with serious ideas for the redevelopment ordinances ahead have a great chance at being heard and making change. These are not just ordinances for Paul J. McKee, Jr. — these are ordinances for citizens of the north side, the affected neighborhoods, and for our entire city. They must reflect all of the associated aspirations for transformation.
by Michael R. Allen
At a public meeting at Ames Elementary School last night in Old North St. Louis, Paul J. McKee, Jr. again discussed historic preservation for the NorthSide project.
Notable was a new figure for the number of legacy properties McEagle plans to rehabilitate. In a YouTube video on the developer’s website, McKee stated that 60 historic buildings would be preserved. Last night, he said that number could be as high as 85. He also stated that the Landmarks Association of St. Louis (my former employer) would receive a copy of that list. Will Landmarks, city preservation officials and neighborhood leaders also be able to shape that list?
McKee had told the St. Post-Dispatch that he planned to rehabilitate the Mullanphy Emigrant Home, which is owned by the Old North St. Louis Restoration Group and targeted to be converted into a hostel by the Gateway Chapter of Hosteling International. Last night, he said simply that he would help the Restoration Group with the project if possible.
Another major concern for Old North was addressed: the fate of over 60 properties in that neighborhood owned by McKee’s companies but excluded from the boundaries of the NorthSide project. Board members of the Restoration Group asked what plans the developer has to sell those properties and prevent further deterioration to buildings.
McKee’s answer was vague: “Once we get through the development process with the city we get the [Distressed Areas Land Assemblage tax] credits approved by the state…I’ll be happy in the first quarter to sit down and dialogue about that with you.”
What if McKee does not get the credits? “You’ll be dealing with somebody other than me,” he said.
Demolition will move rapidly after city approval of a redevelopment agreement, if McKee’s plans hold true. McKee told the crowd that “within 18 months, anything that’s going to be wrecked is going to be wrecked.” According to the developer, half-destroyed houses like those this blog frequently covers cannot be demolished now due to state brownfield laws.
(I was unable to attend Monday’s meeting, so this report is derived from videos posted by Doug Duckworth on Random Talk.)
by Michael R. Allen
I have been working on an architectural survey in JeffVanderLou (details to come) and wanted to share some images from the area just west of Parnell and north of Cass avenues. This is a neat urban pocket filled with historic buildings dating from 1870 – 1910 that is located in the fourth phase of the proposed NorthSide project. There is the abandonment and building loss typical of this neighborhood, JeffVanderLou, but the level of historic integrity remaining is actually strong. A historic district is certainly possible here.
The image above shows one of the most splendid rows in the area: the 1700-1800 block of Leffingwell Avenue, just south of North Market. This intact street wall faces Yeatman Park (which, by the way, happens to have excellent tennis courts). Of course, this photograph shows that the four of the eight buildings at the left are vacant. However, only one of these buildings is owned by a holding company controlled by McEagle Properties LLC. Three are owned by the city’s Land Reutilization Authority (and likely to be purchased by McEagle) and the corner unit of the corner building is owned by one Hillmon Bonds.
This image cuts against the stereotype that the NorthSide area is an urban prairie with a few decrepit houses here and there. This is a block of historic homes comparable to blocks found across the city, with as many houses occupied as vacant. Every time I am on this block, people are around tending to their yards or cars. While the fates of the four vacant houses concerns this architectural historian, those fates concern the residents and owners of the remaining four buildings even more.
Take away half of this row, and what is left is diminished. The quality of life on this block would be much improved if the vacant houses were again occupied by families. The difference between a fully occupied row of historic homes facing a lovely city park and a group of isolated survivors ringed by vacant lots could not be more stark.
There is a flounder-style house at 2627 Howard Street. Flounders are indigenous to St. Louis, Philadelphia and Alexandria, Virginia, and feature a roof slope (sometimes hipped) that runs from one side of the building to the other. The origin is unknown and the prevalence unaccounted for. All we know is that these are a precious American architectural resource. This one is owned by Dodier Investors LLC, a McEagle holding company.
The rest of this block of Howard is the typical mix of vacant and occupied for the neighborhood. This photographs shows a typical density of remaining historic resources — too dense to ignore. Second from left is a one-story flounder house that is occupied. Once again, we see that historic preservation planning in the NorthSide project is crucial. Preservation here is preservation of the livability of whole city blocks.
by Michael R. Allen
All three of these buildings in the JeffVanderLou neighborhood are owned by McEagle Properties-controlled holding companies and were destroyed by brick thieves this year or last. The rubble piles remain, one almost mockingly surrounded by cheap plastic construction fencing. Those residents of JeffVanderLou considering whether or not the owner’s NorthSide project is a good deal for their neighborhood have this evidence to consider. What else? Residents can learn more at Wednesday’s meeting of the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Commission, at which the NorthSide project will be considered for a $399 million public TIF subsidy.
The records of these properties show that two were not vacant very long before being destroyed, and that residents had tried to get the vulnerable buildings secured to prevent what happened. The two destroyed houses on Laflin are just a half-block north of Vashon High School. Many students walk this street before and after school, passing unsecured and dangerous rubble in open foundations. The present conditions violate city public safety laws.
Address: 2526 Bacon Street
Owner: VHS Partners LLC
Citizens Service Bureau Calls for Unsecured Vacant Building: 12/18/2006, 9/22/2006
Considered Vacant by Building Division: 2001 – present
Address: 1831 Laflin Street
Owner: MLK 3000 LLC
Citizens Service Bureau Calls for Unsecured Vacant Building: 10/10/2007
Considered Vacant by Building Division: 1989-1996; Since 2009 (re-occupied 1996)
Address: 1909 Laflin Street
Owner: VHS Partners LLC
Citizens Service Bureau Calls for Unsecured Vacant Building: None recorded
Considered Vacant by Building Division: Since 2009
Don’t get the wrong idea — most of JeffVanderLou does not look like this. Most buildings are occupied and there are always children playing in the streets as well as adult pedestrians. That’s why these open foundations are such a big problem. Hopefully we don’t have to wait until the developer has state tax credits in hand to get these nuisances cleaned up.
by Michael R. Allen
Today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch carries an editorial on Paul J. McKee Jr.’s NorthSide project (“Next 90 days could set North St. Louis’ direction for decades”).
Among reasonable suggestions and enthusiasm for the potential of NorthSide, the editorial’s main purpose seems to be making the case that the city of St. Louis, pension crisis be damned, should guarantee some of the tax increment financing for NorthSide, and that McEagle should be given eminent domain latitude:
Financial guarantees from the city and the use of eminent domain are “hot-button” issues with the public, and for good reason. But there is every reason to think they can be resolved in ways that both impress potential investors with a prudent city commitment and protect the public.
Well, the Post-Dispatch has it wrong here. The absence of a city guarantee is the work of the office of Mayor Francis Slay, who is not exactly an opponent of the NorthSide project. The restriction on eminent domain that will likely be in the redevelopment agreement comes from Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin (D-5th) and her colleagues involved in discussions with the developer. Again, Ford-Griffin is a supporter of the project. Ford-Griffin’s ward comprises 80% of the proposed project area, and her constituents are up in arms about eminent domain. McKee says that he only wants 20 parcels through eminent domain anyway, although the developer has not provided a list. Disallowing broad condemnation rights on this project — which may take over 30 years to complete — makes sense. Life has to go on for residents while McKee is working on the Downtown West and Mississippi River Bridge landing phases of his project.
If public officials who support the project have placed limits on the public financing and eminent domain use for NorthSide, that’s for good reason.